Chennai varsity bags third place in US design competition

A team of eight undergraduate students from the Department of Aerospace Engineering won a cash prize of USD 1,000 in the Undergraduate Team Space Transportation Design Competition 2011-12 organised by American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) recently, university officials said.

The space vehicle named 'NAVSHITIZ VAHAK - the carrier of new horizon' has been designed to orbit at a distance of around 370 km from the Earth.

The design conceptualised by the students reduces cost of launch and cost of space tourism considerably, SRM University Vice-Chancellor M Ponnavaikko told reporters.

The eight-member team comprised Sweety Prakash Pate, Anku Aravind, Jeevraj Hejmady, Joel Alex Roy, Rishabh Bana, Rajdeep Chowdhuri, Ravi Shakya and Sarnavi Mahesh.

Virginia and California Universities bagged the first and second prizes respectively, he said.